Openside flanker John Barclay has been ruled out of the Scotland team for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations Championship match against Ireland in Dublin.

Barclay has not recovered from the hand injury he sustained in a domestic accident at the weekend. "Its bad luck for John and we wish him a speedy recovery," said Scotland coach Frank Hadden.

Hadden made the decision after the Scotland team trained this morning. Joining Alasdair Strokosch in the back-row will be Kelly Brown, who retains his place at No 8 from the Welsh game, and Allister Hogg, who will take on Barclays No 7 shirt.

The back-row vacancy among the substitutes will be filled by Ross Rennie, the uncapped 21-year-old Edinburgh forward who is a graduate of Scotland age-grade, 7s and A sides.

Hadden said: While the door closes for one, it opens for another. Its a golden opportunity for Ross Rennie who has consistently put his hand up and demanded to be considered by the quality of his performances.

The revised Scotland team (sponsor Murray) to play Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Croke Park, Dublin on Saturday 23 February (kick-off 5pm) is:

15 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh)

14 Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks)

13 Simon Webster (Edinburgh)

12 Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors)

11 Nikki Walker (Ospreys)

10 Chris Paterson (Gloucester)

9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh) CAPTAIN


1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)

2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh)

3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints)

4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan)

5 Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets)

6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester)

8 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)

7 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh)


Substitutes


16 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors)

17 Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh)

18 Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers)

19 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh)

20 Chris Cusiter (Perpignan)

21 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)

22 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)

This article was posted on 21-Feb-2008, 14:14 by Hugh Barrow.